Beloved World, Beloved People
by natanije
Summary: A knight with his adopted little sister, a Holy Maiden who couldn't read the situation, a Dive Therapist who just wanted to make people happy. AT AU; eventual HoriKashi, MikoChiyo, SeoWaka.


Beloved World, Beloved People

Summary: In which a knight was _so_ close to resigning, if only his adopted little sister with her sunny smile and her pretty ribbons didn't give him enough reason not to. In which there was a Holy Maiden feeling like she was on a super fun trip, even when her life was on the line and in which a Dive Therapist too handsome for her own good just wanted to make people happy.

AT AU; eventual Horikashi, MikoChiyo and WakaSeo.

A/N: There will be some OOC moments in this one, and I assure you most of it is because of plot choices or because these dorks just choose to act and being fake *sideglances at Seo and Yuu*. Some things may not really be explained here? But I tried my best. Yeah. That's what happens when you try to describe a whole new world altogether. A floating one, at that.

And also! This followed closely with the actual plot of AT; but it will sliiightly go somewhere else. So I am sorry if it comes off as boring for you –sweats-

* * *

 _[Metafalls], the land of chaos. Because of the things that had happened in that land, some begun to call it as The Cursed Land, a place in which some may find it a hard place to live. Metafalls was a built one, with islands and places which hovered the air, for the land on earth had proven to be a place not even mankind can live on any longer. The "Goddess" had created the land, the system-_

 _However despite that, it still wasn't enough. The land people lived on now,_ _ **Metafalls**_ _, wasn't even that satisfactory to begin with. That was why people began to support and hope for [Metafalica]. A new land, the Paradise. Where people could live happily ever after._

 _Of course, such thing was merely a legend, was it not?_

 _In actuality, in many chances in the past, Metafalica had almost turned from legend into reality. A grand, promised land had almost been made._

 _However, each time, it had been prevented. Surprisingly, by the Goddess herself. And in according to that prevention, the Goddess mercilessly unleashed a fearful "curse" open her own lands. That curse ate away the peculiar creatures other than mankind that had been living in those lands._

 _Those creatures, one with figures similar to a human, yet not exactly the same were called as_ _ **Reyvateils**_ _, beings who could control magic with songs._

 _After that, people stopped rebelling, and Metafalica returned into legend._

 _And then, 400 years later—Perhaps, there were people who finally decided to rebel against the Goddess herself; and to create the Metafalica the people wished for._

[A.D 3772]

The Grand Bell Palace, or specifically, the Speech Plaza was full with civilians today, all hovering near the entrance with excitement clearly written in their faces and perhaps, _perhaps_ they would push further inside if there weren't any knights guarding around the place, obviously working as a crowd control at this point of time.

Everyone—or rather, those who had the time to come, really—had wanted to meet their Holy Maiden, whose beautiful voice could enchant even the most devil of men, and was told to be capable to one day defeat the Goddess. And they weren't disappointed; Yuzuki stood at the hall, her eyes taking in the many, many people who came to see her.

And in the midst of her mind, she wondered if they would even still come when they had seen her when she was not going to deliver some speech that the Governor with a ridiculous _ahoge_ forced her to memorize (she could've said something else, she could've made an even better speech. And yet they didn't seem to trust her "harsh" vocabulary, it seemed), when she was herself and _free_ —

But she pushed the thought aside; because honestly, she was getting bored and she really wanted this to be done with already.

Taking a deep breath, she greeted the crowd.

"The citizens of Grand Bell Hall! People of Metafalls!" A cheer from the crowd answered her (and it would be a lie if she said she didn't think it felt kind of nice, _super_ nice). "It is finally, the time for us to stop serving the Goddess, who had rejected our paradise 400 years ago," she bit back the extra words of ' _despite it being so long ago and this was kind of a late time to start another rebellion'_ , and continued, "And that is why, we, the Neo Grand Bell, declare our war against the Goddess and her supporters! We demand independency, a Metafalls for our own, our own Metafalica!"

She punched the air as a gesture, and the people were happy to follow.

"For Metafalica! The Green Land!" They shouted, expressions hopeful and happy.

And inside, she muttered to herself.

 _For Metafalica_ _. For Me._

* * *

"Give her back! She hasn't done anything wrong!"

Hori Masayuki, a healthy knight at the age of 20 years, could swear that what the old woman shouted at him and his comrades were nothing but mere lies. They were knights; they _wouldn't_ attack the girl and attempt to take her away if she hadn't done anything wrong. At the very least, Masayuki wouldn't. His eyes scanned his surroundings, taking in the destroyed buildings, burned houses, his bloodied comrades, ruins, the burned people, _dead people_... Glancing down at the makeshift weapon he had: big, white and slightly scarred thanks to the many battles he had had, it worked as either a sword (not really, but it could _stab_ , and he thought it was nice enough), a gun, and a shield. it looked kind of ridiculous, with its big stature and all, but it saved him the trouble of trying to hold many weapons and a shield all at once.

There were blood stains on his armor and weapon, and his eyes narrowed. Masayuki didn't like this operation at all, really. An I.P.D Containment: one that was done to I.P.D—the nickname given to the Reyvateils who were infected by the "Curse". These Reyvateils got into an _outbreak_ , like an emotional breakdown, only accompanied with magic and the result of that outbreak was Masayuki's current surrounding right now.

Even if he didn't like these containment missions, he couldn't deny that it wasn't wise to let this kind of thing go either. And apparently, his comrades thought the same as him.

"But ma'am," his fellow Knight voiced out, as gentle as one could in front of a mother who was about to lose her daughter, another knight did his job to hold the woman back, away from her daughter: the daughter that had an outbreak, the daughter that created this mess. The daughter that Masayuki himself fought earlier. "You should know how dangerous an I.P.D infected Reyvateil is. She alone destroyed three towers and killed five people; we cannot simply let this slide."

"But..! But...!"

"..." The Knights glanced at Masayuki, and he sighed. "...Why are you looking at me like that?" He wasn't even the captain, dammit. "Just... Take her away." Take her away they did.

By then, the mother was screaming bloody murder: how they were so _ruthless_ , _evil, the Dogs of the GrandBell—_ He couldn't keep on listening, or his already guilty conscience might get even worse and he'd really, really file in a resignation paper to the Grand Bell later tonight.

Walking away from the scene, he sighed and muttered incoherent stuffs under his breath, fingers messaging his dirty temples. His comrades followed him soon after, smacking his arm with a small laugh. "Good job on today's mission, Hori-chan!"

Masayuki grumbled, but muttered his thanks anyway.

"Aah, if only they'd give us a break; too many containment missions made me really down these days, y'kno?" One of them gestured, "Eatin' at our guilty spot and all that shiz."

"Ah, but we're super lucky to be in Hori's squad this time around, eh!" The other one snickered, and Masayuki raised his eyebrow in interest, brushing away the dust gathering on his armor.

"And why is that?"

"Becauuuseee, if we're in Hori-chan's squad, even if we slack off, Hori-chan will still do all the work," he wiggled his eyebrows, high fiving his other comrade, "and we can just sit back and relax!"

Masayuki snorted, giving a light kick to the one on his right. "You guys are the worst."

"Oh, we _know_ you love us, Hori-chan. Let's go out for some drinks!"

"Actually, I have lots of reasons as to why I don't and won't. First of all, 'ew', then 'not interested', and 'no thanks'. I have my little sister waiting for me at the town, so."

"Aww."

"The big brother made his appearance again. Where did the stoic knight go off to?"

They sniggered, but pushed Masayuki away to the direction of the town anyway, promising the brunet that _yes_ , they were going to be the one to make the report to their captain today. With that, he thanked them swiftly and left.

And when he was finally stripped off of his armor, wearing a sky blue hoodie and jeans to go with it, he rushed to the city. In all honesty, looking for that person wasn't hard at all. She stood at the sidewalk; wearing that yellow sundress she liked so much while checking her wristwatch ever so often. Big, red ribbons with white polkadots were at each side of her head, decorating that silky orange hair of hers.

"Chiyo!"

As soon as her name left his lips, her purple eyes saw him and she smiled, waving her hand excitedly as she beckoned him to come closer. "Masa-nii," she greeted, "you're late for five minutes this time. Good job." Considering you were late for almost an hour the last time, was left unsaid. Masayuki caught on that anyway.

Masayuki rolled his eyes, poking the shorter girl's cheek with fondness that some of his fellow knights wouldn't believe existed. In return, she giggled. "It was a serious one this time, but there were some others called in for that mission, so." He shrugged.

Chiyo hummed, titling her head in that way whenever she was mulling about something. "I'm still upset they don't call me, though. I'm supposed to be your _partner-in-crime_ , Masa-nii. They can't just separate us like that, it's unfair and downright _mean_."

Sakura "Hori" Chiyo was, after all, considered as a knight just as Masayuki. It all started when Chiyo insisted on being useful and how it was so boring to wait in their little house all the time when Masayuki left for his missions. Masayuki had been one to never doubt Chiyo's ability; he was the one who taught her to fight after all, what with the naginata and all. And despite the looks his comrades sent him when he took Chiyo to a mission for the first time, she truly proved to be someone who should not be looked down upon. If it were any other person, they probably wouldn't let the cute, seventeen-year-old Chiyo to assist in fighting. But Masayuki was not any other person, wasn't he?

Chiyo was a good fighter, anyone else who said otherwise could just go fuck themselves.

"I thought you don't like the I.P.D purifying missions, Chi," Masayuki said then, just when they were to go on a walk toward the weaponsmith's store, where they'd pick up Chiyo's newest naginata that she had been excitedly waiting for for the past few weeks.

"I don't. But you don't like it, too, right?" Chiyo fired back as easily, a skip in each of her steps. Her words had a teasing tone in it, as if she had known the answer already, but still asked anyway. "You didn't join the knights to take away children away from their families, right?"

"Of course not!" Masayuki answered, feeling horrified at the thought of people actually joining the Knights to do dirty stuffs like that. "I just liked the idea of Metafalica and all. And even if we go 'round the places doing these... shitty missions, at least we're doing something for the people, yanno. ...'Sides, if I didn't join the Grand Bell, I wouldn't have met you."

For he met Chiyo during one of his purifying missions itself, roughly three years ago, sitting near the ruins looking so lost and confused. And Masayuki had been at loss on what to do; for he didn't think he can cheer up someone who was in the middle of a chaos, especially a girl. He didn't see her parents anywhere, and he had a feeling they were probably under those rubbles or probably they were those who got burned to death—nothing good, he figured. And so he settled with crouching down and extended his hand, asking: _"Are you hungry?"_

That was the first time he met her, and when she took his hand and literally sucked in the loafs of bread he offered to her, Masayuki could feel himself getting attached already. After that, Sakura Chiyo had turned into Sakura _Hori_ Chiyo, living alongside Masayuki without much complaints and he had been always grateful of that.

As if reminiscing the same thing as Masayuki, Chiyo smiled. Kind of wistful but still pretty regardless.

"Hehehe, yeah, I guess."

* * *

"Are you gonna take on Shi-chan's offer, Masa-nii?" Chiyo wiggled her eyebrows, snickering at the disgruntled expression on Masayuki's face. Cynthia—or one that usually referred as _Shi_ —was the weaponsmith who made Chiyo's newest naginata: a long one with bright red ribbon and orange diamond (he didn't know if that was even necessary) decorating it. It could be disassembled and assembled at will, therefore easy to bring along wherever she went off to.

Shi was a great weaponsmith; she often did upgrades on Masayuki's weapon, especially with its bullets. However, he really couldn't stand her teasing about _love_ and how they were _soulmates_ as if she was speaking about the weather. In which today, she had asked when would they spend their honeymoon. Holy shit, they weren't even married! It made him slightly flustered; and at one point, reminded him of a certain someone who he met at Rakshek, the Trade City years ago before he met Chiyo and before he was dead set on responsibilities, when he was still under training. His friends had dragged him there to join them in _healing and relaxing_. Therefore, Dive Theraphy.

He remembered the casual questions of, ' _do you wanna sit on my lap, Hori-chan?'_ and _'Ehh—Do you really wanna check if I'm a woman or not?'_ and he could still remember her goddamned face being so relaxed as she was about to take off her clothing like, _what the fuck_. He had heard some therapists taking their job a higher level to almost an equal of a courtesan, but...

Shaking the thought off of his mind, he sighed and breathed out a harsh and defeated of ' _Hell no'_ which caused Chiyo to giggle yet again.

 _Nevetheless, I'm tired. I should probably take another quick shower and sleep_.

...Had been his thought, before his messenger beeped loudly, signaling _yet_ another mission. This time, both Chiyo and Masayuki groaned simultaneously. Masayuki with the thought of going on another stressful mission, and Chiyo with the thought of being left behind again.

"Yes, Hori speaking," Masayuki answered, giving Chiyo the side-eye as she harrumphed by his side.

"Aah, Masayuki-san, good job on your last mission," the Captain of Grand Bell Knights, Nozaki Umetarou's voice could be heard through the messenger. "I'm sorry beforehand but... I really need your help for another mission."

"Nozaaaakiii-kuuun," Chiyo drawled out before Masayuki could stop her. Her face in a deadpan expression, and was that Nozaki _yelping?_ Masayuki knew they were basically at the same age and all that (in which it was super cool in itself to be aware of; for someone as young as Umetarou to be the Captain), but he really didn't expect them to be this close. He still remembered the time when Chiyo was calling the captain as _Nozaki-sama_ , after all. Whatever happened in those missions when Nozaki brought Chiyo along?

"...Um."

"My _precious_ , tired big brother already worked hard enough today, can't you just point another knight in your division to go out?" Chiyo continued like shooting deadly bullets, "I _know_ Masa-nii's, like, your best, best, _best_ knight ever; but he's _tired._ "

"...Sorry, Sakura," at least Nozaki really sounded apologetic, "But this is a real emergency."

A groan left Chiyo's lips, and Nozaki apologized again, continuing. "There's a large-scale I.P.D outbreak," now Masayuki's tempted to groan again, "...at Grand Bell Royal Halls, Rakshek Resort."

 _That_ caught his attention. Wasn't that place where the Holy Maiden, Lady Yuzuki was currently spending her day off at? To have a large-scale outbreak happening there... This was a _real_ emergency alright. For the people who believed in the creation of the Green Land, the Holy Maiden was their hope and sunshine. The Grand Bell couldn't afford to have her hurt, or worse, _dead_.

"The first squad's already on their way, you're going to join the second team. That's all."

"Whoa, hold on a second!" Chiyo spoke again, successfully halting Nozaki before he ended the call, "let me join in this time, I'm _not_ going to be left behind in this one."

Masayuki half expected for Nozaki to refuse, actually.

"Sure, come along. The more fire power, the better."

...But of course, this was _Nozaki_. Right after Masayuki, the one who understood Chiyo's ability the most would be Nozaki, considering the times the duo went off of on missions together. Half of the knight population no longer doubted Chiyo for the magnificent knight she was, but none knew her abilities as much as those who had spent missions with her.

Just as Masayuki was sharing goodbyes with Nozaki, the said girl pumped her fist in victory.

* * *

Rakshek Resort, despite its nice name, it really was just like a forest. Green fields, bushes, trees, animals around... With the actual resort in the middle of the forest, big and magnificent, holding proudly the red flag of the Grand Bell. It was a nice place, not too far yet not too close to the cities, a perfect place for the Holy Maiden to rest at. That rating did not count the monsters that lurked here, actually. There were ones that looked like a mix of bird and dog, or pigeon with penguin—the monsters were kind of strange, and people many years ago simply deduced it was the Goddess's strange hobby to create them. At the very least, the monsters at Rakshek Resort were no real danger. They were basically harmless unless you stepped in their den or ruined their nests.

And right now, those were basically none of their concern at the moment.

As soon as the Leader of Second Squad dismissed them to their positions, the Horis geared themselves. Masayuki with his formal Grand Bell armor, while Chiyo with a short, stylish orange kimono, in which underneath she wore bulletproof vest. Her new naginata's been assembled already, the now nineteen year old orange haired girl holding proud in her hands.

It seemed that this time around, one of his friends who assisted him in the previous mission was here, too. This time, with his Reyvateil partner.

"Geez, Hori-chan, you're in this mission too?" He scratched his head, glancing at Masayuki and Chiyo. "You guys sure are tough... Fighting off I. even without any Reyvateil to back you up."

Indeed, having a Reyvateil partner had always been advised within the Knight community. Especially an intimate partner at that. For Reyvateils were able to produce Red and Blue Magic. Red was used to attack the enemies, helping the Knights to end the fight as soon as they could. While Blue was to provide support, either helping in defense or to heal wounds.

"...There's no need for one," at least Masayuki didn't feel the urgent need for one, at this very moment. Chiyo side-eyed him, shuffling her feet for a reason Masayuki couldn't fathom just yet.

"Haha, yeah, yeah. I know you're strong. Just don't push yourself too hard, mmkay?" The knight saluted him, his partner bowing to the both of them and they scurried off to their position somewhere in the east entrance of the Resort.

"..Hm," Chiyo muttered as soon as they were out of eyesight, "It would probably be better if I were a Reyvateil, eh, Masa-nii?"

"Don't you ever think that." Was Masayuki's quick response. Nope. Not going there. Chiyo was great enough as she was, he was not going to let her thinking that it probably would be better if she were someone she _wasn't_.

"But if I were a Reyvateil, we'd be much stronger! I'd be able to assist you more than ever!"

"Nope."

"Bu—"

"Nah." He covered both of his ears with his gloved hands, staring off to the sky and pretending to ignore Chiyo altogether.

"Listen—"

"Noooo."

" _Masa-nii!_ " She huffed, cheeks puffed much like chipmunk at the moment. He bit back the urge to grin.

"You're already great, Chi. Hush now."

Chiyo did pout, but didn't say anything else to retort. Or perhaps she was about to, if an explosion didn't happen right at the direction where the Palace was at. The siblings shared a look, and they quickly ran to their destination: the Front Entrance.

When they arrived, the place was as good as destroyed. The building structures were strong enough to not collapse, yet it was clear that lots of explosions had happened. Black dust were on either walls and floors, some splotches of blood could be seen, as well.

 _Shit_ , Masayuki thought. With the condition as it was, he wasn't sure if Lady Yuzuki was still in one piece or not.

"Come on, Chi," Masayuki started, turning around to face his adopted sister, "let's—"

"Look out!" Chiyo's naginata knocked off a dagger from its path to Masayuki's face, the both of them turning around to find knights running toward them with intention clearly to _kill_. And that armor—The Sacred Army, those who believed in the Goddess and naturally, the Grand Bell's enemy.

"It's a Grand Bell Knight! En garde!"

With a quick dodge to the left, Masayuki crouched and shot off bullets from his makeshift weapon. Not precise enough to bring the enemy down, yet enough to distract them with the pain. In the corner of his eyes, Chiyo was trying to break into their Reyvateil's barrier—which was a good choice: it would be troublesome if her magic hit the both of them.

It took them quite awhile—it _really_ was hard to fight against three knights and one Reyvateil, okay?—but as soon as they were done with, Masayuki and Chiyo hurried to the deeper part of the Palace. Being in the entrance for any longer simply invited more enemies to see them and they couldn't risk another ambush.

The hallways were almost empty, save for a few close encounters here and there. The both of them were stealthy enough, Chiyo even managed to tip toe and then strike an enemy knight from the back.

Something was clearly in their mind though. For this to be a normal I.P.D outbreak? No way in hell. Something else must be going on. And that was more reason to _quickly_ find Nozaki and Lady Yuzuki.

They found the both of them later in the Throne Room, surrounded by the I. .

Nozaki, with his metal gloves and shield, looked mildly disgruntled. A fresh cut marred his cheek, though that didn't beat the slash wound on his left shoulder. Behind him stood Lady Yuzuki, with her (now dirtied) white and green dress that reached her upper knees, and the white robes covering the upper part of her hands acting as none other than mere accessories.

Yuzuki's eyes were darting back and forth from the I.P.D at the left, to the right. Then another one came around, backing them more into the corner.

"Nozaki. Do you really not want me to sing?" Yuzuki asked, pointing at the I. . "They look really ready to cook you for dinner, y'know?"

Nozaki groaned. "Please, don't say anything for now."

"I can sing, you know?"

"Lady Yuzuki. Please."

"Ehh... Bummer." Yuzuki pouted, crossing her arms.

Just in time, Chiyo and Masayuki arrived. Nozaki visibly relaxed, asking them to assist him in defeating these persistent I. . If she were any person, Yuzuki would probably stay silent behind and wait for the battle to be over with. But she was the Holy Maiden, nobody could stop her from speaking what she wanted to speak, from doing what she wanted to do (perhaps there were some restriction, but they could just go hang in this current situation, really). Besides, this was _Nozaki_. The man who grew up alongside her when she was chosen to be the Holy Maiden. He was pretty much used to this by now, surely.

"Yo!" Yuzuki unsheathed her long, thin sword, stabbing an unexpecting I.P.D at the shoulder. While the I.P.D's concentration had been broken—and so was her Song Magic, hooray—Nozaki actually looked like someone gave him another set of Tanuki on his bedside again.

Masayuki's and Chiyo's eyes widened, weren't expecting the Holy Maiden to pull off such a bold move—but Yuzuki simply grinned and took a fighting stance, proudly calling out to the remaining I. .

"Come at me! I'm not gonna back down until I'm dead!"

"Don't say the D word, please!" Nozaki hollered, looking mildly horrified. "And didn't I tell you to stay back?!"

"Eh?" Yuzuki glanced at Nozaki, her face in a straight line. "You told me not to sing. I'm not singing. I'm fighting, see?" She swung the blade in her hand around, the blood on it splattered on the floor thanks to the motion.

"Just back away, already! You're making my job harder than it is!"

"Ehhhh? Don't wanna."

"Lady Yuzuki, just ple— _Whoa!"_ Nozaki was cut off by an I.P.D rushing toward him, in which he quickly punched the enemy away, who landed on the floor with a loud _crack_.

This wasn't going to end soon enough, was what the three knights registered.

"Masayuki-san," Nozaki said through gritted teeth, as yet another I.P.D came from the other end of the hallway. _Goddamn it._ "Please grab Lady Yuzuki away from this place."

"What?!"

"This isn't a normal I.P.D outbreak—it's a coup d'etat," he breathed out, ragged. "Mostlikely..."

"The Sacred Army?" Chiyo quipped from beside Nozaki, her stance ready to strike the ever nearing I.P.D. "They're an anti-government agency, right."

"Yeah," Nozaki smiled a little, perhaps feeling rather proud, "with this current predicament... They would keep on coming. I will attempt to stop the outbreak in this location, take Lady Yuzuki away from this place _quick_. _"_

There was no _way_ Nozaki just suggested that. Captain orders or not, Masayuki couldn't possibly just leave Nozaki here alone! "And leave you here, alone, with these I. ?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"No, I think not!" Nozaki responded as his shield hit an I.P.D in the face. "The Holy Maiden is your responsibility, or are you going to abandon the mission?!"

Chiyo looked equally upset as Masayuki at this moment. "Nozaki-!"

"Meet me at the Coal Lodge in the Mikry Forest during the next full moon, okay? Just _go_!"

Masayuki gritted his teeth, "you can't be seriou—"

"Okay, let's go then." Yuzuki's voice cut off whatever complaint Masayuki was so ready to throw at Nozaki and his big build, and Masayuki and Chiyo glanced at the Holy Maiden in shock. Particularly, on how she seemed to be unbothered by the whole situation—very calm as ever, her sword sheathed back in its place.

"Wh-?!"

"We're going right?" Yuzuki titled her head. "Nozaki already said we should go. Then let's go."

 _What the hell_. "You're going to abandon your own knight-?!" Masayuki exclaimed, looking absolutely offended, temporarily forgetting that _hey_ , apparently he was talking to the Holy Maiden. You know, the Star, the Sun and the Hope for the people of Metafalls. He was _screaming_ at the Holy Maiden and probably some people would love to get his head for that.

However, the calm never left Yuzuki's face. Instead she blinked, and asked—

"Nozaki's strong, right? Then he should be fine."

"...Huh?"

"I know Nozaki," she waved her hand dismissively. "He'd be fine. C'mon," she hooked an arm around Chiyo's, who yelped in surprise. "You gotta accompany me."

"You heard her." Masayuki and Chiyo turned back to stare at Nozaki, who was surprisingly, smiling. "Now go."

Yuzuki already dragged Chiyo toward the entrance hall, and Masayuki glanced back one more time.

"Don't die on me, Nozaki."

Nozaki chuckled. "Who's the captain here, Masayuki-san?"

* * *

"So what's your name?" Yuzuki asked as they once again tip toed through the hall, cautious not to be caught in yet another crossfire.

"Chiyo," Chiyo quiped, one of her arm still looped around Yuzuki's own. She was staring in wonder at the Holy Maiden now, perhaps bewildered on how she could stay calm in this very situation.

"And what about the short guy over there?"

 _You're about the same height as me, asshole_ , was what Masayuki had in mind. Of course, it had been registered now that he was speaking to the Holy Maiden, so he bit back those words.

"Hori Masayuki, ma'am."

"Oh, the Hori-chan everyone's been talking about?"

"...Er, yes."

"Alright, I'll call you Hori-chan, then."

 _God, no. God, why._ A Holy Maiden would call her knight as _Hori-chan_ , it was so embarrassing. Chiyo probably had the same thought as him, as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"So, _Hori-chan_ ," Masayuki inwardly cringed at that, "where are we going to go?"

He pondered for a moment. The Pastalia City where the Holy Maiden originally lived was too far now, and it was a higher probability the enemies would lurk around the path to block Lady Yuzuki from coming back to the Capital City. As of right now, the closest city where they might get an inn to rest at as well as a place to hide from the Sacred Army would be—

"Rakshek," Masayuki voiced out, "We mostlikely be able to find an inn to rest there."

His mind reeled back to the one person who would probably know the city more than he was, thus knowing where to hide best. And he knew exactly where to find that person.

"We're going to the Dive Shop there first," this earned a confused blink from Chiyo and an interested 'oh?' from Yuzuki. "I know someone who works there."

"You know a Dive Shop staff? Wooooow," Yuzuki whistled, wiggling her eyebrows as if suggesting something. "What's their name?"

"Michimiya Yuu."


End file.
